Macbeth

American  

[muhk-beth, mak-] / məkˈbɛθ, mæk- /

noun

1. died 1057, king of Scotland 1040–57.

2. (italics) a tragedy (1606?) by Shakespeare.

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Macbeth British  

/ məkˈbɛθ, mæk- /

noun

1. died 1057, king of Scotland (1040–57): succeeded Duncan, whom he killed in battle; defeated and killed by Duncan's son Malcolm III

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Macbeth Cultural  

1. A tragedy by William Shakespeare, in which the Scottish nobleman Macbeth, misled by the prophecy of three witches and goaded on by his wife, murders the king and usurps the throne. Well-known lines from the play include “Lay on, Macduff” and “Out, damned spot!”

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Macbeth

Like Macbeth, they usually know it is wrong, and like Macbeth, they should lay out all the lessons not to do it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

What she means—in plain English—is that Macbeth doesn’t have the nerve.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

In today’s C-suites, Lady Macbeth is someone in authority who frames hesitation as a character flaw.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

Top soprano Lise Davidsen takes on Lady Macbeth; the electrifying Quinn Kelsey sings the title role; Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

It didn’t take too much effort to concentrate on my task for the day, a paper on Macbeth that was due Wednesday.

From "Twilight" by Stephenie Meyer